Hometown Paper Profiles Medtronic

Last Sunday, the Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune published a profile of Medtronic, which is headquartered there. Today they posted the profile online. It is worth reading to get a sense of a medical device company in transition as their primary business of heart defibrillators and spinal devices has slowed.
Also posted was a preview of the fields Medtronic is hoping to impact in the coming years, including:

An insulin pump, now available in Europe, that automatically suspends insulin delivery to reduce the severity of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, a dangerous condition that can occur at any time and is particularly dangerous at night when a patient is asleep.

A “patch” insulin pump that is disposable. Current pumps look like a pager worn at the hip and last about five years. This pump is a patch attached to the skin and lasts three to six days. It’s more discreet and is pay-as-you go, like disposable contact lenses.

The InterStim II device to treat fecal incontinence. The InterStim pacemaker-like device zaps the sacral nerve to stimulate nerves and muscles that control bowel movements. Approval is pending in the United States.

Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. A pacemaker-like device is implanted in the chest and wires are then snaked into the brain, which is electrically stimulated. Clinical trials are ongoing in the United States. Medtronic also received an exemption from the FDA to use this therapy to treat severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Heart valves that are delivered through the femoral artery in a minimally invasive procedure, without open-heart surgery and the surgical removal of the failed valve. Commercially available internationally, the device is in clinical trials in the United States.

MedGadget is doing its own profile of Medtronic in the coming weeks where we will sit down and ask the company reps some questions. We encourage readers to post questions in the comments below that we’d pass on to Medtronic.
MSP Star Tribune: Change of Pace, New ideas fill Medtronic’s pipeline, Pacemakers plus: Medtronic’s revenue by business